List of British Governors Generals during British Period in India

Shakeel Anwar

26-FEB-2018 12:22

List of British Governors Generals during British Period in India

The Governors-General were originally the head of the British administration in India during Colonial rule. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William. The officer had direct control only over Fort William but supervised other British East India Company officials in India. Complete authority over all of British India was granted in 1833, and the official came to be known as the "Governor-General of India".

Governor Generals (1773-1858)

Warren Hastings (1773-1785)

Became Governor in 1772 and Governor-General in 1773 through Regulating Act of 1773

1. His four councillors were Clavering, Francis, Monson and Barwell2. Abolished Dual system (1767-1772) of administration (1772)3. Auctioned the right to collect land revenue to the highest bidder (1772)4. Divided Bengal into districts and appointed Collectors (1772)5. Rohilla war (1774) and annexation of Rohilkhand by the Nawab of Awadh with the help of Britishers.6. Treaty of Surat (1775) between Raghunath Rao and Warren Hastings, but Council of Calcutta rejected it7. Nanad Kumar incident (1775)8. Treaty of Purandar (1776) between English and Peshwa9. Refined Hindu and Muslim laws. A translation of the code in Sanskrit appeared in 1776 under the title of "Code of Gentoo Laws"10. Chait Singh (Banaras Raja) affair (1778)11. James Augustus Hickey started a weekly paper called Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser (1780)12. First (1st) Anglo-Maratha War (1776-82) and Treaty of Salbai(1782)13. Begums of Oudh / Awadh affair (1782)14. Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal with William Jones in 178415. Pitts India Act of 178416. Second (2nd) Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) and Treaty of Mangalore (1785) with Tipu Sultan17. Started Diwani and Faujdari adalat at the district level and Sadar diwani and Nizamat adalats (appellate courts) at Calcutta.18. Wrote introduction to the first English translation of the Gita by Charles Wilkins

Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793)

1. Sanskrit College was founded in Banaras (1791) by Jonathan Duncan2. New Police System was introduced in 17913. Third (3rd) Anglo-Mysore War - defeat of Tipu Sultan (1790-92)4. Treaty of Seringapatam (1792)5. Cornwallis code, based on separation of powers, was introduced - Codify law - separated the financial / revenue from the judicial functions / administration (1793)6. Created post of district judge (1793)7. Introduced Permanent Settlement in Bengal (1793)8. Known as the father of the Civil Services in India

Sir John Shore (1793-1798)

1. First (1st) Charter Act was introduced (1793)2. Battle of Kurdla / Kharda / Khadra between Nizam and the Marathas (1795)3. Planned Permanent Settlement with Cornwallis and later succeeded him (1793)4. Famous for his Policy of Non-Interference

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

1. Introduced the Subsidiary Alliance system to achieve British paramountcy (1798). The states that signed the alliance were - Hyderabad (first to sign) in 1798 and then Mysore, Tanjore, Awadh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Mecheri, Bundi, Bharatpur and Berar2. First treaty with Nizam (1798)3. Fourth (4th) Anglo-Mysore war (1799) - defeat and death of Tipu Sultan4. Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-1805) - defeat of the Sindhiya, the Bhonsale and the Holkar5. Formation of Madras presidency (1801) during his tenure after the annexation of the kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic6. Treaty of Bassein (1802) with Peshwa7. Lord Lake captured Delhi and Agra and the Mughal emperor was put under Company's protection8. Described himself a Bengal Tiger

Sir George Barlow (1805-1807)

Lord Minto (I) (1807 -13)

1. Sent the mission of Malcolm to Persia and that of Eliphinston to Kabul (1808)2. Treaty of Amritsar (1809) - with Ranjit Singh3. Charter Act of 1813

Lord Hastings (1813-1823)

1. Anglo-Nepalese (Gurkha / Gorkha) war (1813-1823)2. Treaty of Sugauli / Segowlee / Sequelae (1816) - between the East India Company and King of Nepal3. Treaty of Poona (1817) with Peshwa4. Anglo-Maratha War III (1817-1818)5. Pindari war (1817-1818)6. Creation of Bombay Presidency (1818)7. Ryotwari settlement in Madras by Thomas Munro, the Governor (1820)8. Mahalwari system of land revenue was made in North-West province by James Thomson.9. Adopted the Policy of Intervention and War10. Considered Rajputs as the natural allies

Lord Amherst (1823-28)

1. Burmese war I (1824-1826) 2. Treaty of Yandaboo (1826) - with lower Burma (Pegu) by which British merchants were allowed to settle in southern coast of Burma and Rangoon3. Acquisition of territories in Malay Peninsula (1824)4. Capture of Bharatpur (1826)

Lord William Cavendish - Bentinck (1828-35)

1. Father of Modern Western Education in India2. Abolition / Prohibition of Sati (1829)3. Banned female infanticide (1829)4. Suppression of thuggee / thugs (1829-35) - Military operations led / curbed by William Sleeman - 18305. Annexed Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834), Central Chachar (1834) on the plea of misgovernment6. Charter Act / Regulation of (1833) - Martins Bird (Father of land revenue settlement in North)7. Agra was created as province (1834)8. Macaulay's minutes on Education (1835)9. English was made the official language of India (1835)10. Abolition of provincial court of appeal and circuit set up by Cornwallis11. Appointment of commissioners of circuit and revenue

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